Tuesday, June 12, 2012

PROPOSED DUNHAM GREEN: GOOD OR BAD FOR THE URBAN FABRIC?

6611 EuclidAvenueBuilding
with Dunham Tavern to its right. (Google Earth.)

A Cleveland developer has dropped his
plans to convert a former warehouse building at 6611 Euclid Avenue into a tech incubator.1
The folks who run the DunhamTavernMuseum
next door, a historic stagecoach stop and accompanying urban garden, have
purchased the warehouse and plan to demolish it. While the Dunham Tavern won’t have to live in
the shadow of this structure any longer, it remains to be seen whether the loss
of the building will be beneficial for the neighborhood and the city as a
whole.

BENEFITS OF REHABBING AN EXISTING STRUCTURE

When the rehab project for 6611 was announced last December, it
seemed to be a good idea.2
It would have made use of an existing vacant structure, and the proposed
tech incubator would have generated additional activity along the Healthline
transit corridor.

West Façade of 6611 EuclidAvenueBuilding. (Google Earth.)

The 6611 building has an expressive character and a muscular exposed
concrete structure. This aesthetic would
have fit well with the edgy, forward thinking world of tech startups. Rehabbing
the building would be an environmentally sustainable course of action, which
also has appeal to these types of companies.

Reusing the building would also preserve a memory of Cleveland’s industrial
legacy. The layering of history in a
city helps make a place more interesting and unique. Christopher Busta-Peck gives an insightful
take on this idea at his Cleveland Area History blog. Busta-Peck says, "6611 Euclid . . . provides real context for the museum. It illustrates how the city grew up around this tavern, and the level of development threats faced by it. It hints at how close the tavern might have come to being demolished itself."3 He adds in another post, "The Dunham Tavern will be much less
impressive as a survivor when we lose the physical manifestation of the changes
that it lived through."4

PROPOSED DUNHAM GREEN

On the other hand, a green square park surrounding the DunhamMuseum
does have some appeal. This green space could
become an amenity that adds value to the surrounding properties, and to the buildings
that eventually may cluster around it. Think
of Rittenhouse Square
in Philadelphia. Rittenhouse
Square and the proposed Dunham Green would be
about the same size—approximately 650 feet by 650 feet. If this new ‘town green’ in Midtown could
become the center of a dense, mixed use neighborhood fabric, it would be a good
thing.

But that’s a big ‘If.’

Aerial photo of Rittenhouse
Square, Philadelphia.(Google Earth.)

Compare the area surrounding Rittenhouse Square with the current
density surrounding the 6611 Euclid
property in the accompanying aerial photos.
Rittenhouse Square
has been an elite address and the center of its Philadelphia neighborhood since the early
1800’s, and much of the surrounding historic urban fabric is still intact. Also, Rittenhouse Square is only 4 blocks/¼
mile/a 5 min. walk from Market
Street—Philadelphia’s
main commercial street—and about ½ mile from their City Hall.

In Cleveland,
much of the fabric around the Dunham Tavern has been demolished, or is light industrial
in use. The proposed Dunham Green doesn’t
have the same proximity to a thriving commercial center as Rittenhouse Square does. However, the Tavern’s location right on the Healthline
does shorten travel distances. Dunham is
1 mile/20 min. walk/6 min. on the Healthline from Cleveland Clinic, and 1.5
miles/30 min. walking/10 min. by bus from CSU.
It is 2 miles from University
Circle, 3 miles from Public Square. So there is potential for redevelopment around
this site.

DAYDREAM INTO REALITY

One can envision Dunham Green as an oasis in the middle of a dense
city fabric that stretches from Downtown to University Circle.

It’s a nice urban daydream.
But it’s a long haul from today’s existing conditions to get there.

If the city wants this dream to become a reality, it should create
a master plan for the blocks directly adjacent to the new Green, including a
form-based code to ensure that future development on these properties is in
alignment with this urban vision.

CONCLUSION

Still hate to see these great warehouse buildings being torn
down. There’s a lot of embedded energy
in that concrete structure. More importantly, buildings of
character are vanishing literally each day from our city. And the unique perspective that these
structures lend to understanding our history—where we have been and where we
are now—is disappearing along with them.

1 comment:

I guess the folks at the Dunham Tavern have had enough with the atrocity next door to them. They expect to be in business at the same location into the distant future and have the financial means to change their physical surroundings. A business owner and neighbor who is opportunistic like them can solve the problem of the mess that towers over them in one fell swoop as unfortunate as it is for the overall beauty, greenness, and history of the city. Adios 6611 Euclid, Hola Parc Ivresse.

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